State Docks' tonnage reaches almost 18 million for FY 2000

Alabama State Docks has announced tonnage for FY 2000 of 17,820,823, more than 2 million tons higher than for Fiscal Year 1999, when tonnage was 15,742,978.

Alabama State Docks Director and CEO James K. Lyons said that the majority of the increase is attributed to McDuffie Island Bulk Terminal. Total tonnage handled at McDuffie was 11,974,447 tons of which 10,292,132 was coal and 1,245,625 was iron ore. In 1999, McDuffie’s total tonnage was 8,698,356; iron ore tonnage was 645,662.

"During Fiscal Year 2000, we handled about the same amount of import coal as we did export coal – a bit more than 5 million tons each. This is a switch for a port that has been known in the past for its exports. Our export tonnage, which has dropped in recent years, did increase this year, and our import tonnage hit a new high. We anticipate this tonnage improvement to continue for some time, and for that reason have partnered with Drummond Coal Company in bringing a second ship unloader crane to McDuffie. It should be delivered by the end of the third quarter of FY 2001. It is now being prepared for us by ZPMC in Shanghai, China," Lyons said.

Other divisions’ tonnage held at about the same ratio. General cargo tonnage for the year was 3,331,809 tons, a slight drop from the 3.5 million tons of 1999. Forest products remained the strong commodity, followed by iron and steel, and aluminum. The Bulk Material Handling Plant, which lost its major customer through bankruptcy at the end of the fiscal year, finished ahead of 1999. Tonnage for 2000 was 2,514,567; tonnage for 1999 was 2,138,281.

Leaseholders on Docks’ property contributed 1,619,581 tons to a grand total with Docks tonnage of 19,440,404. Farmers Grain Dealers handled 1,001,285 tons; Southern Cement handled 256,108 tons, and PhenolChemie handled 362,188 at the Docks’ Liquid Bulk Terminal in Theodore. The Theodore Terminal was dedicated in May.